Brightspark Blog

5 Reasons to Visit Washington, D.C. on Presidents' Day Weekend

Washington, D.C.is the country's largest living classroom - a perfect destination forstudent travel. As you visit the city's many monuments and museums, your student tour will come face-to-face with national accomplishments in history, civics, politics, art, and science. And on Presidents' Day weekend, you can't visit D.C. without stopping by the many memorials dedicated to some of the most influential American leaders.

1. The Washington Monument was built in 1848 to honor our country's first president. At 555 feet, this is the tallest structure in the capital (no other building in the city is allowed to be taller). And until the Eiffel Tower was built in 1887, the Washington Monument was the tallest building in the world.

2. The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated by President Frankling D. Roosevelt on April 13, 1943 - on Thomas Jefferson's 200th birthday! The memorial sits on what was once a popular beach in Washington, D.C., and it was originally proposed as a memorial to Theodore Roosevelt. It was FDR who personally called for a memorial to our third president.

3. Plans for the Lincoln Memorial began two years after the president's assassination in 1865, but it took another 50-plus years for the famous destination at the west end of the National Mall to finally open to the public. According to the National Parks Service, many elements were completed in 1917, but World War I slowed down construction.

4. Dedicated in 1997 by President Bill Clinton, the Roosevelt Memorial is the most recent presidential memorial in the city (and only the MLK Memorial is newer). FDR's memorial includes waterfalls as a reminder of the president's love of nature, many of his quotes, and a statue of Eleanor Roosevelt -- the only first lady included in a presidential memorial.

5. Inside the U.S. Capitol Building, you can visit the statue of President Ronald Reagan. He stands 7 feet tall near another prominent Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower. Reagan's statue was a gift from the state of California.